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| Photo Credit: Bryce H. Lane |
| Use daffodils in a planter to brighten up an otherwise dull corner of your garden. |
Beach bums beware – fall is coming, and winter’s not far behind. But rather than sink into a gloomy mood over the end of summer, sink a few bulbs into the ground to set the stage for a beautiful, blooming spring! Everyone looks forward to the first flowers peeking through the ground (sometimes even poking up through the snow) to let us know that the new season’s arrived. And to enjoy our favorite springtime bulbs like daffodils, tulips and hyacinths, we’ve got to get ’em in the ground in fall.
Autumn is the ideal time to purchase and plant bulbs. And to get the best results, you’ve got to know what to look for. First and foremost, they must be firm. And don’t forget – size matters! The size and number of flowers is directly related to the bigness of the bulb: The larger the bulb, the larger the flower. Don’t worry about loose skins (tunics), because they may actually help the bulb root better. Plus, you can inspect the bulb more thoroughly for disease. So don’t be shy when pillaging through that bin of bulbs at your garden center. Grab the biggest, firmest ones you can! Then get ready to plant. It’s best to get your bulbs in the ground when soil temperatures fall below 60 degrees F. In my neck of the woods (North Carolina), this is often around late October or November. The farther north you live, the earlier you can safely plant. Why is fall the best time to plant? Turns out, it’s just another cool plant fact of life. Many bulbs develop their root system in the fall and do so by accumulating chilling hours. I won’t go into detail, but basically the bulb must spend so many hours below a certain temperature in order to produce a flower. Isn’t that wild?!
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